Twisted Letters
by The Winged Nyan
Summary: Devon was a normal girl, well, was. When you send out fan mail, you normally expect a prewritten letter back, with no actual meaning. After writing one of those letters, Devon's life is changed forever when she gets a letter back. What's in that letter sends Devon and her best friend Jamie on a journey to uncover the secrets JP tried to hide. Will they make it out alive?
1. Written trouble

**HI! Welcome to my first serious fanfiction! Oh my glob I'm sooooooo excited! Reviews and flames welcome! Iggy, would you like to do the honors?**

**Iggy: No, I'm busy making a new bomb. Find someone else..**

**Nyan: Iggy... Do... The... Honors**

**Iggy: Uh, no.**

**Nyan: *Holds up french fry and looks evil* Now will you please do the honors?!**

**Iggy: YES YES! JUST NOT THE FRENCH FRY! NOT THE FRENCH FRY!**

**Nyan: *Smiles evilly* That's better**

**Iggy: No, Nyan does not own JP, or the flock, she only owns Devon and Jamie, and possibly this granola bar I am about to steal *eats granola***

**Nyan: HEY!**

**Iggy: She does not own the granola anymore.**

* * *

BEEP BEEP BEEP! Ugg, stupid alarm clock. I looked over at my black and red, flashing clock in annoyance. Why does school have to be so early? 6:53… I hopped out of bed on to a dusty pink carpet and looked over at the Maximum Ride book on my bedside table. _At least you don't have to get up for school… _I laughed at that last thought, thinking of all the irony of it. No better way to start the day than irony!

I trudged down the stairs to eat breakfast, Maximum Ride book in hand, and plopped myself down on a chair. As my usual routine goes, chair, read Maximum Ride for the 407th time, eat, shower, get dressed, narrowly miss the bus, ride to school, school. It all went by in a blur. Soon I was at my locker, getting ready for the first period of the day, when I felt a disturbance in the force.

"BOO!" My best friend Jamie jumped on me with a crazed look on her face. "WHAH! Didjamissme? Didja? DIDJA?!" Honestly, that girl has a pair of lungs on her that puts Nudge to shame. I turned around slowly, giving Jamie a skeptical eye that had absolutely, no effect.

"Jamie, you know I'm not a morning person." I seriously am not, I only perk up around at least ten, when conditions are right, and I've been splashed by cold water in the morning. Life of a teenager. Bleh. Of coarse Jamie took no notice to my comment, as usual and started continuing her morning blab.

"Honestly Devon, you need to wake up. It's a wonder your even here this early. I mean come on how late do you get to bed? I mean it must be like at twelve for you to be this tired…" I continue shuffling down the light blue corridor of our school, nodding blankly at whatever Jamie was saying now. It's kind of sad, but I'm the only person Jamie has to talk to. She's really nice, but her intelligence and don't get-in-trouble-at-all attitude gets people to hate her. I really don't care about her rambling to me about whatever mathematical equation she knows now or anything really. She's still really nice. However, everyone needs a break from the self-proclaimed Queen of Rambling.

"Jamie, I'm going to head to English okay?" With a nod of acceptance and a short ramble of the "better meet me at lunch speech", Jamie skipped off to honors math leaving me to travel my separate way over to English.

My English teacher, Mr. Cadaver, was a short man with a love of Shakespeare and creative writing, much to my class' disappointment. However, I was quite happy with it. I hated the "analyze the text" and "prove the theme" assignments, and creative writing was an amazing way to avoid it. As soon as I walked into class, I took my normal seat at the back and pulled out my blue marbled notebook. In purposely-scribbly script, the whiteboard dawned the assignment of "Persuasive Writing, anything you want, to whoever, BUT IT WILL BE GRADED!" Perfect, no analyzing, just writing. Even though it is a pop-assignment, I would take this any day. I grabbed a pencil from my purple bag and placed the tip on the paper. Only one problem. I had no idea what to write about.

I didn't want the latest phone or thingy-ma-bob like all the other girls in my class. I didn't want a violent video game or sports equipment; I don't know what I want. My thoughts swirled and twirled, and everything from no homework to potato stew popped into my mind (Don't ask me about the potato stew, just, don't). I was already ten minutes into class, and I really needed to thing of a topic. After I had exhausted almost every possible idea, when I got a spark. James Patterson, Maximum Ride, Nevermore, REWRITE!

Now don't rant to me you like Nevermore. I mean end of the world? COME ON! So James Patterson makes this amazing series about a girl with wings destined to save the world, and he ends it with THE WORLD ENDING? Just no, just no. My pencil starts flying across the paper.

**Dear James Patterson, **

** I honestly believe, no know, that the last installment of the book series **_**Maximum Ride**_**, needs to be rewritten. You have millions of fans ready for an epic finally, and you make the world end. THE WORLD ENDS! How horrid is that!?...**

Luckily I was able to channel my inner Jamie and rant out an entire eight paragraphs. Eight! New non-creative fictional story RECORD! I handed in my masterpiece and the rest of the day zoomed by. I had asked Mr. Cadaver if I could make a copy of my masterpiece to send to James Patterson, and to my surprise, he said yes! I honestly thought he would say no because of the suspicion I would sell it for others to turn in. But then again, nobody is as obsessed with Maximum Ride as me, well maybe except for Jamie. But she's too much of a follow the rules person to ever turn it in. If anybody else used it they would be caught right away.

After narrowly missing the bus to go home, (I have really got to work on my bus-catching skills) I ran into my house, grabbed an envelope and stuck my letter in. However, I had no idea where to send the letter to, and after a quick search to a website or two, I found my answer. Lick, send, point, Devon. Now what to do? I had finished my tyrannical rant on James Patterson, and my mom and little brother wouldn't be hope for a while because of Basketball Practice. I could call up Jamie, but that would be a recipe for disaster. I mean, Jamie phone, think of my poor ears! So after a bit of homework, I did the ultimately best thing possible. Reread the Angel Experiment in the comfort of a beanbag chair and a peanut butter granola bar.

* * *

_**Later, at the Patterson Residence**_

* * *

James Patterson sat on his recliner, worrying about things to come. His wife was oblivious to his not-so-typical past, and Itex had almost caught up to him. Now newly reformed, the company had begun experiments that made Max and the Flock look like a preschooler's art project. He shuddered, reminiscing about the unfortunate events that had led up to this. Now he was the last, non-crazy person alive that held the Flock's secret, and he was afraid that soon there would be no one left to keep their legacy alive and stop Itex. It is a troubling thought to know people are after you, but this secret was something that could not disappear. It simply could not.

James had seen the warning signs long before this point, but he had chosen to ignore them. He had taken a step forward, or rather behind by publishing the Flock's story. At first he believed some other person would put the pieces together, but unfortunately, nobody had. At the time of publishing there were a few people who knew about the secret, and Itex could be less concerned about a teen book. But after all the other "loose ends" had been eliminated, the new phenomena of the book had caught the company's eye. It had actually worked well for them, as anyone who was suspicious about their actions was easily convinced it was just déjà vu caused by the book, and they were being silly. If they weren't convinced, well, James didn't like to think of what happened to them.

It was a risky plan to publish, and now the company knew whom he was and how to get to him. After a lot of moving around and temporary name changing, he was still found out. He had to transfer his secret on to another, and fast. All his friends would be and family would be the first Itex would look to question after he was found. No, he needed someone unexpected. Someone he could communicate with without suspicion. He needed, A FAN! Not a robotic one, no, a fan, a particularly non-hormone influenced one. Yes, he knew how many girls were in love with Fang. It kind of disturbed him. But one must take all that in stride. After all, he wouldn't be a millionaire without them.

The author knew he must transfer his secret fast; he had and estimated two weeks before Itex found him. Email and phone lines can be tapped and recorded easily, so James would have to communicate via snail mail. It would be perfect. Premade letters were sent out every day to persistent fans, and no one would notice if one had extra secrets enclosed. Now he just needed to find his predecessor…

* * *

_**One hour later**_

* * *

James was thoroughly exhausted. After an entire hour of checking mail, he could not find a single fan that could handle his secret. Most mail consisted of gushing over his characters, or plain rambling. _I'll look through a few more, than go to bed._ A few more was an overstatement. There were two letters left, and James absolutely needed to pass on the secret now. He opened up the letter from one: Devon VanLera, and began to read. This girl seemed actually kind of smart. She was questioning his ending, and did it in a very intelligent way. She was also suspicious of him, and even though she wasn't starting to connect events together, he had to take what he could get. Plus no character gushing. That's a bonus. However, he wasn't sure, and thought maybe this next one would be better. Rather, this last one. If it weren't better he would go with Devon as the next secret keeper.

Okay Devon it is! That last letter had been full of so much character gushing it nearly made him sick. After a thorough mind scrubbing, that last letter was really horrible; he began the long task of writing everything down by hand. It was a tricky task really, he didn't want to spell everything out, in case Itex got it, but he couldn't waste time with silly clues and riddles. Time was ticking, and he couldn't send multiple letters, too suspicious.

In the end James had disclosed everything, sure of his plan that Itex wouldn't get it. After concealing it between the normal, prewritten letter and placing it in the usual envelope, James placed it in the pile of fan mail replies ready to go out. He couldn't help but smile at the bittersweet feeling of this. He may not be here to see the fall of Itex, or see the legacy continue, but he will have kept it going, and done his job. _Max would be proud_, he thought. And at that, he turned around ready to enjoy what might be his two last weeks of freedom.


	2. Depressing Codes

**HALLO AGAIN! WELCOME BACK LOYAL REVIEWERS! If I had any... Come on people! Please? Please? PLEASE? I'll even accept one word reviews! Or flames! OR FRENCH FRIES!It really means a lot to us fanfictioners if you review, and I know how happy it makes us. I used, and still do, write really long reviews, and the PM's I get back from people are amazing! It makes a lot of people's day. So if you want to make someone smile, review! It doesn't have to be long, or even a good word, constructive criticism helps to. If you review my story, I know you'll make my day! Now Iggy...**

**Iggy: UGG not again...**

**Nyan:Yep, **

**Iggy: I better get this over... Nyan doesn't own JP or his characters, just Devon and Jamie and the story idea and blah de blah blah...**

**Nyan: Good, but I could do without the sass...**

* * *

Waiting. I am absolutely, positively, one-hundred-percent patient. And I also am the Queen of England. So you can imagine what I felt like waiting for a reply from my fan mail, if I ever got a reply. My schedule would include check mail, school, check mail, sleep, and repeat. Yep, I have nothing better to do.

Unlike the rest of the girls in my school, I don't care about my looks or getting a boyfriend. My long-ish mousey brown hair is covered by a red tint and it's constantly untamable. It falls down in tight, corkscrew ringlets so tight I can never get a brush through, now that's an annoyance. My eyes are a very light blue, so light their grey, and I'm no make-up wizard. Some boy magnet, huh. And unlike my brother, I hate sports or video games. I strongly dislike, despise, and barely tolerate gym, but don't get me wrong; I'm still in shape. I'm just tiny for my age and it feels awkward when you can't run as fast as the other girls.

So what does that leave me? I love reading, writing, and drawing. I'm known as the artsy one in my school, but when does drawing get you popular? Maybe in a parallel universe, on a rainy day, where pigs fly.

But anyway, after about five days of waiting, I finally got my letter. FINALLY! Even Jamie had gotten annoyed at my constant mail obsession, and Jamie usually tolerates that stuff. It was four o'clock on a Saturday afternoon when my letter came. Of coarse, with my luck it was pouring rain, and I ran out on the cold hard driveway in socks, and slipped. Probably not the best idea now that I think about it. My side was aching from the fall, but I still ran to my rusting, red mailbox to retrieve my glorious prize. Which would most likely be a prewritten letter explaining, "Were sorry but James Patterson is too busy to read your letter, but thank you for your concern." But maybe he did read it. It can't hurt to hope.

After grabbing my letter and walking back to my house (I've learned not to run), and changing into something more comfortable (Pajama's anyone?), I ripped the letter open and began to read. Of coarse, it was a premade letter. I didn't expect anything else. It was quite boring and signed by a signature stamp. One where it's meant to look genuine but you can tell it's a stamp. Real creative…

I was about to throw the letter in the recycling, when a sheet slid out from behind the prewritten paper. _Odd_… It looked like an essay, handwritten on simple, lined paper. _Maybe James Patterson had read my letter… _I picked up the paper off the ground, and made my way back to my ragged, navy blue been bag chair. I slid on my reading glasses, and yes, some kids do have to wear them, and began to read…

_Dear Miss Devon Vanlera,_

_ If you are reading this, I assume you have gotten this letter safely. Now don't be alarmed, but what I am about to tell you is absolutely real. Do not tell __**anyone**__, for this would be of CIA level secrecy, if the CIA knew about it. Once you read this, your life will be on the line, but if you are not of the brave hearted, please stop reading and shred this now._

_ Seeing as you have continued reading, let me explain a little about myself. When was about 30 or so, I was in the advertising business. Back in the 70's, global warming was beginning to get noticed, and I worked with the company Casimof, on getting the word out on Global Warming. At first there was nothing suspicious about the company, but soon I noticed one of my colleagues, was, well let's say, a bit odd. But her being female and me… Let's say I overlooked it. While trying to win her heart, I discovered something much more, interesting._

_ My colleague, Valencia, was the mother of one extraordinary child. Yes my friend, Maximum Ride is, well was real. But with the good, come the bad, and Itex is real also. However they don't go by Itex now. Have you ever heard of the company, Xecition? (Pronounced Zeh-si-tion) Try rearranging Itexicon. See what you get. But anyway, unlike the books, Maximum Ride doesn't exist in modern times; she lived "underground" in the 70's. No one knew about her, except Valencia, her enemies, and me. I wasn't supposed to know, but when your fourteen-year-old-daughter-with-wings crashes your date, you don't exactly ignore her. _

_ I was thrust into Max's world and everything in it. At first Xecition didn't care about me, just the Flock and Valencia. I was unimportant, a loose end that could be tied up later. However as the years went by, people who knew about the Flock were disappearing, and now I'm the only one who knows. I think Iggy and Ella might be out there somewhere, but it's highly unlikely to find them. Now Xecition is coming for me, by the time you get this letter I will have been captured or dead. It's up to you to carry on this secret._

_ I would recommend you to look in books one through three. Most, if not all of those facts are real. After writing those books, I had to make up the rest of the story. I guess that explains your ending to Nevermore. Oh the writer's block I had when I wrote that. I originally wrote the book hoping someone would "connect the dots", but no one did. I can't tell you anymore than this, in case Xecition gets this letter. Find Iggy and Ella to complete this story. It's up to you to defeat Xecition for good. Finish what Max started, and good luck. If you can unscramble the code below, you might have a chance of finding the state Iggy and Ella are in._

_Myo4v399i3sndasr3uu01fndas1-0rraC_

_Good Luck! _

_ James Patterson_

My first thoughts when I read this consisted of many things. Is James Patterson on drugs? Xecition? Toothpaste? Iggy and Ella? Real? Granola? Once I had calmed down, I sorted my thoughts in order. First of all, is James Patterson on drugs? Seriously, I've seen fan girls pretend books are real, *cough cough Jamie* but never like this. And Xecition is the company that makes lots of good things, how bad could they be? I mean, everyone loves bubble-fruity toothpaste. And Iggy and Ella, whah? If Iggy were my age, Jamie would be in heaven, but if he were 14 in the 70's, umm, he would be about 44+. Wow… *Shudders* But seriously, JP must be on drugs. This is probably just a publicity stunt sent out to everyone. I really shouldn't think of it. If only it didn't seem so real…

* * *

**2 Days Later, Monday Morning**

* * *

Contrary to what the letter said, I decided to tell Jamie, but not anyone else. Just in case it is real. Hey, a girl can dream, can't she? So, early Monday morning, I slipped into home room, no literally slipped, the floor was just waxed, and sat down next to a surprisingly un-talkative Jamie.

Me: Hi Jamie

Jamie: Hi

Me: Woah, what happened to the Queen of Rambling? Is Simba okay? (Simba is Jamie's 17-year-old cat with one kidney)

Jamie: You haven't heard?

Me: Um, heard what? You know I don't get up early in the morning to look on the Internet.

Jamie: JAMES PATTERSON'S BEEN KIDNAPPED!

Me: Whah?

It's at this point Jamie pulled out her smart phone, and showed me the headline on the search engine's news board. My face contorted into a look of confused, depressed, and creeped out. This must be a crazy coincidence with the letter. Right? He he… Nothing can go wrong here. Despite my gut feeling, I pulled out JP's letter and let Jamie read it.

Jamie: Woah

Me: That's what I said.

Jamie: OH MY GLOB THAT'S WHY HE'S KIDNAPPED!

Me: WHISPER!

Jamie: Sorry

Me: You really believe this?

Jamie: It explains enough.

Me: Seriously?

Jamie: Well think about it, Casimof, C-A-S-I-M-O-F, Coalition to Stop the Madness, C-S-M. And Xecition does make, like, everything. Just like Itex, no? It all fits, plus Xecition was up to shady stuff in the 70's. They were put on trial for animal abuse, but they won the trial and nobody looked into it again. Odd, don't you think?

Me: And how do you know this?

Jamie: Extra credit, animal abuse, science class…

Me: Oh, I remember.

Jamie: And I'll look into the word scramble so we can save James Patterson, now if you'll excuse me I believe that was the bell, and honors math waits for no one.

And with that, Jamie skipped off to math, grabbing a copy of the scramble, and left me to travel to English. When I entered the classroom, I expected another creative writing assignment, but instead I faced a ticked off Mr. Cadaver. And soon the bell wrung, and our class settled down, while the grumbly teacher went to the front of the class.

"I am VERY disappointed in most of you. I just finished grading your persuasive writing assignments, and I am unimpressed. More than half of you FAILED the essay! So today, I am foregoing my lesson plan of a movie, and all of you who aren't happy with your grade, or those of you who failed, will be rewriting it. The rest of you can have a study hall. Now grab those pens and START WRITING!" and with that, Mr. Cadaver stomped off to his desk to pass out the failed essays and the rest of my class groaned in annoyance. I waited ever so patiently for mine, yeah right, and fidgeted in worry. I really didn't want to rewrite it.

"Devon, I was very impressed with your essay, you were the only one in the class to get above a 95, good work," Mr. Cadaver complimented me on my essay, earning me stares of hatred and a bit of self-confidence. A red 96 stood atop my persuasive letter, earning me a study hall. However, it was the first period of the day, and I had no homework yet. Very unfortunate. However, I wanted to make good use of my time and pulled out JP's letter. I copied down the coded scramble on a piece of loose paper and tried to, well, decode it. Lots of luck I had. In the end all I ended up with was…

**Myo4v399i3sndasr3uu01fndas1-0rraC = Sassy cat is dandy **

And a bunch of scribbles. I think 1- could be a t, since they look like one when put together, but that's about all I got. Decoding is harder than I thought. I shuffled all my stuff into a pile, and grabbed it to make my way into my next period, science, which conveniently Jamie also had. I walked across the hallway, where science was. No need to rush, right? The room was a menagerie of plants and tanks, with diagrams and posters hanging left and right. The science teacher was a tiny, elderly woman with white hair neatly pushed into a bun. She wasn't terribly strict, so it wasn't a problem if Jamie and me talked before the lesson.

"Hey girl! You cannot believe what happened in math!" Jamie was out of her depressive gloom state, so either there was no homework, or she figured something out. "I think I figured out the code! Sorta… Just come over here and help me!" Its official, she figured something out.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" I maneuvered over to Jamie and I's table, dodging paper balls and students alike. Our classroom was packed with table-desk thingies and we sat in the back, making it hard to get there. Once I had sat down in my seat, Jamie began to ramble, as usual.

"I think I got it! At first I was confused, but then I was playing with my calculator in class; and I realized that the numbers might be letters, like when you type in 01134 and turn the calculator upside down to say hello. So 3 is E, 4 is H, 9 can be a weird lowercase G if shifted down, and 0 is obviously O (The letter), and 1 is L. However, I still don't get the -1 but besides that, its easy to make out words like veggies and oh my. No, literally, oh my, in the code. Oh! And the two u's can be a W, heh."

"Couldn't -1 be a lower case T if put together?"

"That's it! Devon, you're a genius! Now the code is backwards and the words are scrambled. Give me a minute and I'll decode it," so while Jamie did her decoding, I doodled wings on my notebook, and watched the teacher take attendance.

"I got it! The code is…"

* * *

** Yes I know, I'm evil he he... HILL HANGER! Because I haven't graduated to the status of cliff yet... **


	3. Science class, need I say more?

**OH MY GLOB! I'm soooooo sorry I haven't updated sooner. I had massive writers block and I couldn't figure out a way to move the plot along. But, after a couple of french fries and some candle making, I HAVE COME TO A CONCLUSION! This chapter may be a little short, but I felt it needed to end here. On the bright side, the other one will be up sooner then! And to the lone guest reviewer... THANK YOU SO MUCH! I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE A BIGGEST FAN! You really helped boost my confidence about this story, and I give you a virtual french fry. NOW LET THE STORY BEGIN!**

* * *

"The code is… Carrots and flowers and veggies, and I think the last part is oh my."

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME!" I whisper screamed at Jamie, wondering what the (insert swear word here that you like, today I shall go with ice cream) ice cream was James Patterson thinking.

"Miss Vanlera, do you have anything you'd like to share with the class?" The teacher's gaze focused on me and I blushed like a salmon-y pink color.

"Umm, no, uh, sorry, it won't happen again…" I guess I did a little more than whisper scream. The teacher began to hand out worksheets and Jamie and me took to partnering up. We were supposed to talk about our work, but that really didn't happen.

"Another riddle-thingy? This is ridiculous…"

"Yeah, unless Ella and Iggy live in a garden, this helps, like zero."

"It could still be helpful."

"Oh come on Jamie…"

"No seriously, maybe it's a clue to a place, like if you said sunshine and waves you could inference California or Florida or something."

"Maybe I guess, but I don't think it's helpful…"

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. A few worksheets here, a packet there, the only thing of any interest was the announcements of a class trip to some science lab thing a few towns over next Friday. Now I like field trips as much as the next kid, but I wasn't particularly looking forward to this one. I mean, with all this conspiracy stuff with James Patterson, I'd like to stay away from any labs that remind me of Itex, or Xecition. Maybe I can fake sick it, or break my leg, or something so I don't have to go.

* * *

Later that day

* * *

"No! You can't miss that trip! Devon, you are going, and that's final." After deciding that I could just ask to miss the trip, (I'm a horrible actress, it would fail to fake sick, and I really don't want to break a bone) I went to ask my mom if I could plain out miss it. That was the answer. No matter how much begging and pleading I did, I was going on the science trip. Jamie was enthusiastic as always though, raving about how "super-awesome-amazing-fun" this would be. Her words not mine.

So while she was bouncing up and down, I opted to worry and plan all week. At first I imagined we would be kidnapped and be turned into erasers or something, but Jamie calmed me down. Maybe we would get wings or something if we got captured… At least that's what Jamie thought. She kept me talking about wing colors and such to get my mind off of the lab. It worked pretty well. I almost totally forgot about it. Until Friday… When we had to go to the lab.

Unfortunately for me, it was a sunny, none-rainy with no-chance-of-flood-and-canceling-school day. My mom woke me up early to get ready, and I trudged my way down the stairs. Why… Why must kids endure this torture known as school? It's completely irrational, well I guess kids with wings are more irrational. Logic of middle schooler…

The bus took Jamie and me to school as always, except we would get on another bus instead of going to our classes. The rest of my grade was waiting on the sidewalk next to our school, buzzing about not having to do classes. Jamie and me joined them, and waited for the field trip bus to come.

"I'm so excited for this trip! Its going to be sooooooo fun and I might get to see someone famous, like this scientist I saw once on the internet was like worldwide…" Jamie kept ranting and I kept nodding and fiddling with my purple sweatshirt. This was going to be a long, day…

After a half hour delay, (why couldn't it be a half-year delay?) the bus pulled up to the school, and the teachers shepherded us in. What are we, sheep? I feel the urge to baa. Jamie and I took a seat in the middle of the bus, and the old, mustard yellow contraption lurched forward. My insides tightened in nervousness as we sped to the lab. All the worst possible outcomes played out in my head, followed by speed bumps and the snickers of the rest of my class.

"Erasers, cages, Maximum Ride, *shudder*" I kept biting my lip the entire way to the lab, and when we got there my lib was slightly bloody. The bus stopped abruptly, and we hopped out onto the patio of the "New Kingsville Lab". The building was made of stone painted white, and had solar panels hanging all over it. A way too cheery looking tour guide, with a tight, brown bun and grey suit went to meet us at the door, and the teachers hushed us down.

"Welcome everyone, to the New Kingsville Lab. Here we work on various things such as genetics and neurology, trying to create new breakthroughs for science. I'll be showing you around the lab, and you'll get to see some of the things we do. Follow me," however pleasant this sounded; my mind had a different view.

"Welcome everyone, TO YOUR DEATH AT ITEX'S LAB! Here we will twist your DNA until you are part animal, and squeeze your brain until it pops out of your head. Then we will only stop if you're a new breakthrough and we can use you as a henchman. I'll be guiding you to your doom, but you'll be able to see the unlucky souls who already had their genetics twisted by us. Follow me," my insides twisted as we walked through sterile white hallways littered with paintings of peaceful scenes.

The tour guide kept babbling on about whatever she was babbling about until we got to one of those oxygen-monitoring machines.

"Now who would like to try this?" Jamie's hand shot up like a rocket and she stood on her tiptoes bouncing up and down. "How about you, in the blue skirt and your friend next to you?" Jamie squealed in delight as she skipped up to the machine in the front of the room. I clenched a hand into a fist and nervously shuffled behind her. The lady in front put this clasp looking like thingy on my finger and some squiggly lines came up on the screen behind her. Again, I zoned out in nervousness. In addition to this recent lab-o-phobia, I also had a fear of being in front of people and their opinions, silly right? Well right now I felt like I was about to explode. The finger the clasp felt like it was burning and I could see my classmates gossiping in the back.

"What a dork…"

"Glad she's not in my classes…"

"How can Devon even like, hang out with Jamie? I almost feel bad for her…"

Apparently the teachers heard that last comment, as well as Jamie. She burst out in tears and started running into the nearby bathroom. I yanked of the finger clasp and ran after her, leaving the shouts of my teachers and giggles of my classmates behind. I made it into the bathroom, and the sobbing of Jamie rang throughout the tiny room. Jamie's purple sneakers showed underneath the second stall and I knocked on the teal colored door.

"Jamie? Its me, Devon…"

"Go away…"

"Jamie, don't listen to them."

"You're just saying that because they "feel bad for you."

"No I'm not, there all just jerks, now come on out."

"No…"

"Jamie…"

"NO!"

"Ok, ok I guess you'll just get detention for leaving the rest of the class."

"NO NO NO! Ok, ok, I'll come out."

It's at this unlucky point in time my science teacher decided we had been in there long enough and yanked us out of the bathroom. Apparently, our classmates had all been yelled at and the ones who said that last comment were getting detention. Real effective. Most kids find it worth the laugh, and parents will just shrug it off. They're in denial their kid said that. It's an ineffective system.

"Oh girls! Your fingers are bleeding, here let me get the first aid kit." Apparently, Jamie and I had ripped the clasps off too hard. It was weird though, my finger was bleeding a river but I didn't feel a thing. Odd. The teacher left the bathroom and me and a tear streaked Jamie were left to wait.

"Does it look bad?"

"Huh?"

"Does it look like I've been crying?"

"Um, yeah…"

Jamie's face was puffy and red, and her normally pin strait dark brown hair was all messed up. I took to putting her hair in a braid, to hide the messiness, and she splashed water on her face to cool down. A couple of paper towels later, Jamie looked at least presentable.

"Devon? Do you feel funny?"

"Whah? What do you…"

Jamie's knees hit the floor and her body went slack as she fell to the ground. I rushed to grab her, but suddenly felt queasy myself. My eyelids felt heavy and I gripped the sink the stay up. However, it was barely a second before I fell to the ground. I drifted off quickly with the thought, "_I really should have stayed home…"_

* * *

**Sigh, I haven't still gotten past the status of hill-hanger.**

**Why did the chicken cross the road?**

**To get you...**

**Nah, that was a bad joke...**

**Knock knock**

**Who's there?**

**THE CHICKEN!**

* * *

**Don't let chickens cross the road. It always end up bad**


	4. Orange, oh so scary orange

HALLO! I am so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry I didn't update sooner... School has been suffocating me with homework, and procrastination has decided to take over my brain.

**Me: Ok! Now to do the next chapter!**

**Procrastination: *Makes stomach grumble* You're hungry, _you are very hungry..._**

**Me: OK! Better get something to eat! *Grabs apple and chokes on it***

**Later at the hospital**

**Me: Ugh, worst moment of my life... Maybe I'll feel better if I write some stuff while I recover...**

**Procrastination: _Check email, must check email..._**

**Me: Ok! *Checks email and gets link to a funny video***

**Five hours later after watching dozens of internet videos**

**Me: Whoo, now finally on to writing... *Computer dies***

**Me: NOOOOOOOOOOO!**

Okay, so maybe I exaggerated it a bit, but to make up for my lateness, here's an extra long chappy! This time, I'll give Iggy a break and let Nudge do the disclaimer...

**Disclaimer: **YAY!NYANDOESN'TOWNANYOFTHEMAXIMUMRIDECHARACTERSORB ATMAN!SHEOWNSTHEPLOTANDDEVONANDJAMIEANDJUSTINANDTH ISCATPERSONANDERINANDKETCHUP!BUTREALLYSHEWON'TOWNT HEKETCHUPFORLONGBECAUSESHEHASANOBSESSIONWITHITANDI NEEDTOTAKEITAWAY!

* * *

Everything was black. No, not like a black shirt or turn off the lights black. Just black. Suffocating, murderous, devouring black. Heh, its funny how we always think of black as bad. What if orange was the new black? I mean, we'd all be like, ooh orange, so scary. It makes you think. But anyway my world was black. Not good. All my memories of the field trip rushed back and punched me in the face. ITEX! I knew I shouldn't have gone on the field trip…

Some gas or something had most likely knocked Jamie and me out. How could we have been so stupid!? All alone, with no one around, and a secluded room just made for trouble. That kid who said the mean comment must have been in on it! I'll have to get back at them later… Wait a second; I don't know for sure it was Itex. Maybe there was just a gas leak and Jamie and I are just in a hospital or something. Heh, yeah, that's it.

At this point I decided to open my eyes and check for sure. Now that I think about it, not the best idea. I was in a dog cage… I KNEW IT! ITEX! My eyes were all sticky and I was in a light blue hospital gown. Not good. I just hate to think of the sicko who undressed me. My entire body was aching and my joints felt like an elephant had tap-danced on me. Stinking scientists… They probably tried to operate on me or something! I knew I was fine, but what worried me was Jamie. The room I was in held many dog crates, but all of them were filled with animals, or, what I assumed to be animals. I don't think you want to ask…

But anyway, I couldn't see Jamie anywhere. I was in the middle of the room, and my crate was just wire so I could see 360 degrees around, but Jamie wasn't there. Maybe she escaped or something. I hope so, because if Maximum Ride was considered child's play in the 70's, I can only imagine what Itex can do now. They could probably turn Jamie inside and out in a heartbeat, *shudder. *

Anyway, my current position is somewhat, well, lacking. No water, no food, no, um, bathroom…. _Yeah, awkward… _ It had only been about 5 minutes into my grim situation, when the comical essence of the fact that I was trapped in Itex had worn off. At first it seemed all comical and, well funny. Think about it, in the span of a week, I had found out my favorite book was real, JP had been kidnapped, and now I was trapped in a secret lab who-knows-where in who-knows-what. This is something out of the twisted minds of fan fiction writers, not real life. This is every Fang-gushing fan girl's dream. However, in that fantasy, Fang swoops in to save the day, (or in my case Iggy, come on, let a girl dream…) and everything turns out perfect. Not today… I might be experimented on, tortured, killed, turned into a potato, etc. I don't know what could happen, but it won't be good…

Thoughts of my family drifted into my mind as I sat in my cage of despair. Sure, I don't usually get along with them, but I definitely don't want to be separated from my family. You can never replace your mom's love, or a brother's antics. The mere thought of not seeing them for the rest of my life made my eyes water, and soon they were spilling oceans out onto the cold metal floor. I cried for my little brother Justin, and how I might never see him grow up, or his college graduation, or his girlfriend who I will not like until he proposes to her and I suck up all my past evaluations of the soon-to-be wife. I cried for my mom and dad, for all the anniversaries I would ignore till the last minute, for all the times they would have told me to be quiet, and all those special moments I would never have. I cried for Jamie, who was probably having unspeakable things done to her But most of all, I selfishly cried for myself, and for all the trouble that I will soon encounter.

I bawled for what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes, until my eyes were dried out. My throat was constricted with hiccups, and I was on the verge of hyperventilating. My world seemed to crack as I screamed my heart out. I yelled for my mom, my dad, even Jamie's name seemed to escape my lungs. Suddenly, a huge BANG erupted from the door as a woman in black strutted in. Literally strutted. She walked deviously, if that makes any sense. I honestly thought one more step could kill me.

"QUIET DOWN!" Her voice was like ice as she strutted toward me. Her bony hand gripped the cage as she shook it fiercely and her piercing yellow, yes yellow, eyes sized me up. I backed as far back as I could into the cage, which unfortunately wasn't very far, as she rattled it into a mini-earthquake.

"Wh-why am I here?" I stuttered in fear as the quake continued, "What did I do?"

"QUIET! Ugh, you useless girl! I guess that's what we get when we let security breaches like James get loose… Insolent…" Her murmurings continued for a while as she checked out all of the cages. Sometimes she shook the cages with unmoving "things" in them or kicked the others. _Talk about anger issues… _As she abused the experiments, I took the time to study this "lady" and see what she was made of. Her sleek, long black hair was tied back in a high ponytail, and it still swung mid back even though it was up so high. Her features were sharp and sleek, and her bright yellow eyes almost resembled a cat's. _I half expected her to have a tail…_ A black spy suit made her look like some street assassin, and overall she looked killer. Literally killer, like she could look at you and you would die. _Creepy…_

The sudden squeak of wheels brought me back to reality as Cat-woman brought out a mover's dolly. She loaded an experiment from across the room onto it, and then began wheeling it towards me. A wave of panic struck me as I prayed not to get onto that thing. _Not me, not me, pleeeeeeeeaaaaaaase not me… _ I was relieved when a supposed "sleeping" moose-lizard thing was loaded onto the cart and I was bypassed. _Enter: Sigh of relief. _Cat-lady wheeled the experiments out of the room, and the tension seemed to deflate like someone had popped a balloon. Most of the experiments seemed to go back to pacing around their cage or doing whatever they were doing before. It was extremely sad, the fact most of them probably had this happen to them every day. I couldn't imagine it… Well, maybe I could, but that's beside the point…

Just as I had thought I was safe, that characteristic BANG entered the room again. I froze up and shuffled to the back of my cage again as Cat-lady wheeled the dolly back into the room. However, this time a significantly larger cage was on the mover's contraption. My tear-stained eyes strained to see the figure in the cage as Cat-person wheeled the dolly closer to me. She quickly deposited the large cage next to me, and strutted out of the room. Honestly, I was expecting a large dog or something, but not a person, well a sort-of person. The figure next to me was curled up in a ball, and I could make out claw-like fingers and weird bumps all the way down the person's spine. _Okay, didn't expect that…_

* * *

I tried to tap the cage to wake up the person, but my fingers couldn't fit through the tiny holes in in my own. So I went to my next option.

"Uh, hello? Um, person-thing next to me, are you awake?" I croaked out the words with my ragged voice. The figure didn't respond, and I assumed maybe it was sleeping or something.

"Yeah, sleeping…"

"AAH!" A female voice filled my head as I screamed in surprise…

"Oh don't act so surprised, I mean come on, Angel could read minds, so why can't I?"

"C-can you stop that?" I stuttered out loud, "Who ever you are?"

"No. Anyway, there are a million different cameras in the room. You can't escape if the enemy knows what you're doing. "

"Well that's all fine and good, but exactly who are you?"

"Oh, sorry for my lack of introduction. I'm Erin, or what those devils call me, experiment 12EA6GeX8."

Honestly I was a little skeptical of this "Erin". It seems weird that she would be so open with me. I mean, really, if you were trapped and experimented on wouldn't you be a little more protective of your secrets? And what's up with those claws and bumps? Something seemed off about her, but I might as well give her a chance, she's the only lead I've got…

"Why can't you move?" I questioned with a hoarse voice.

"I TOLD YOU DON'T TALK!" She screamed in my head. It's an odd feeling to be screamed at mentally. I can only describe it as a mix between a rock concert and the headache of Algebra 2. It's quite an odd sensation. "Those devil spawns paralyzed me for the time being. And until they pump more toxic chemicals into me, I'm stuck like this." If Erin could have frowned, she would have, but instead she just laid there in perpetual tranquility. Her lifeless brown eyes didn't blink, and her fragile claws didn't move. She couldn't show, or do anything. No one should live like this, but here Erin was, without any means of motion. It was heartbreaking to look at.

"Oh stop the pitying, that's how the last one got killed…" Erin's "voice" boomed into my head again without warning.

"What do you mean, last one?" I thought skeptically. Did this happen on a normal basis?

"Oh come on, don't you remember? Sean tried to help one of the younger experiments… He got zapped… Come on, everyone knows about this. The entire lab is buzzing about it."

"Uh, no. I was kind of only brought here yesterday… I think. I don't know how long I was out in this cage."

"Wait, are you from the avian department? Transfer from the other labs… No, you couldn't be…" My guess was that Erin knew about James Patterson, and therefore about me…

"Um, try neither…"

"HOLY CARP IN A KOI POND! You're a leak, aren't you?" Again with the yelling, it feels like Algebra 2 inside my head…

"Uh, what's a leak?"

" Wow, you really are a leak… Leaks are people who find out that Maximum Ride is real, but aren't associated with Itex. Those scourges called scientists calls them protocol breaches, but the common slang around us experiments is to call them leaks. Usually they're killed before they can come here, but I guess you're different. How'd you get to know about MR?"

It's at this point I decided not to let Erin know about JP and his letter. She seemed way too comfortable talking about this stuff. For all I knew, she could just be trying to get info out of me for Itex. And what's with the getting killed thing? Was I supposed to be killed instead of knocked out? *_Shudder…* _

"It's kind of a long story, and I don't really want to talk about it. Its actually really traumatic…" I tried sounding really troubled and frightened in my mind, so Erin wouldn't suspect anything.

"Oh, ok, I understand…" My lie had bought me some time, but I couldn't help but feel Erin was skeptical.

"So are there any other leaks in the lab?" I quickly changed the subject, secretly hoping that I was the only one, and Jamie got away.

"Yeah, I think there might be one on the other side of the lab, but inter-department chatter always gets twisted and turned. By the time word makes it over here, most of the facts are plain wrong."

"Um, forgive me for asking, but how do you communicate all the way across the lab? I know you're telepathic and stuff, but this place must be huge! What the…" However, before I could finish my sentence Erin interrupted.

"Stop your babbling. Honestly, you're giving me a headache… There are quite a few telepathics in different departments, and we all link together to make a bridge network. Everyone's connected mentally…"

"But doesn't that get tiring? And how does Itex not know about this?"

" Nah, and I can block out the voices when I want to, and "on purpose" telepathics are extremely new. Angel's powers were pure accident… It took Itex forever to figure out what happened. Now, only the young, new experiments are telepathic, and Itex has no older slave to tell them what we are saying. It actually works out quite well."

"Wow…" That's about all I had to think. Just from Erin's tone of mind I could tell she was VERY proud of her spot in the mental network. She almost seemed a bit arrogant and obnoxious, but look on the bright side. She won't give up if something catastrophic happens, and (if she ever gets un-paralyzed) she could be a valuable asset in escaping. Plus, it's kind of nice not to have my ears assaulted by words like when I talk to Jamie. I'm actually enjoying the silence. _Wait, JAMIE! _In my crazy history lesson of telepathics, Jamie had begun to slip my mind.

"Hey, can you ask someone on the other side of the lab if a leak named Jamie came in? She was with me when I got knocked out and brought here," I mind-asked Erin extremely quickly. My words were so fast I almost put Jamie to shame! _Almost…_

"Sure, I'll check with the other side of the lab…" It felt odd not to have Erin's voice in my head. The room fell into complete silence, mentally and physically. It was giving me the creeps. Like when you were little and the curtains rustled and you thought some ketchup-monster was going to eat you… Never mind. My train of thought parked into the station as Erin's voice entered my head again.

"Sorry, there are no definite leaks in the lab. A new experiment was brought in to be worked on, but it's extremely rare for a leak to be experimented on. I'm sorry…" Erin's grim description should have made me angry and full of sorrow, but instead it gave me hope. Maybe Jamie got away or was just mind wiped or something. After all, she wasn't meant to know the secret. Plus, no one would believe her. Jamie's accusations in the past have been more than far-fetched. Besides, dwelling on the bad things just breaks you down and makes you weak. I can't afford to break down and cry over a bucket of granola bars right now; I have to escape.

BANG! All of a sudden the familiar crashing of doors echoed through the room. Our favorite cat-like villain strolled through the door, toward Erin and me. I scooted to the back of my cage in fear, and I'm sure Erin would have done so too if she could move.

"Oh breach girl, you're going to my _favorite room._" Cat lady kicked my cage and seemed to purr in excitement as she did that characteristic evil laugh. Literally, it was a genuine evil laugh. I would have wet my pants, if I were wearing any. I felt myself being hoisted off the ground and onto a cart thing, and then driven out of the room. I stared pleadingly at Erin, but soon the white doors to our holding room closed, and all I could think of was, "_What's going to happen now?"_

* * *

So how did I do? Big enough of a hill-hanger for you? Really, I want to know, because lately all I've been able to write is dune-hangers...


End file.
